The Final Countdown for Hong Kong’s Protest Camps Has Begun

The 74-day occupation by pro-democracy protesters of Hong Kong’s Admiralty district — home to the Central Government Offices as well as military headquarters and several high-end office towers — will likely end Thursday, but demonstrators vow that the battle for the city’s political future will continue.

During a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, Hong Kong’s assistant police commissioner Cheung Tak-keung said officers would be accompanying bailiffs on Thursday to clear several intersections in Admiralty in accordance with a court order that went into effect this week. He added that police would remove all remaining barricades and tents, regardless of whether they were located at the intersections that are the subject of the order.

“I hope that the illegal road occupiers [will] leave the area in a peaceful and orderly manner as soon as possible and not resist,” Cheung told reporters.